Odette
by Gretchyn
Summary: Kyoko receives an anonymous gift which leads to several revelations.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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"So comfortable," Grudge Demon moaned as she floated toward the darkness less than a meter away from her. Revenge Demon, Wrath Demon, and the other minions followed suit, basking in the waves of fury rolling off the familiar man. Nobody could provide such a welcoming atmosphere for them, one day they should thank him for harboring feelings allowing him to emit this pleasing aura. But, not today; today they needed to regain their power. It seemed ages since their master released them so, wanting to prove useful, they planned to use their full strength once reacquired to carry out her wishes in hopes of avoiding another long term confinement.

Kyoko stood unchanged in the center of her dressing room, mouth agape with a blank expression on her face. _Click_. All of the shackles she had used to cage her inner demons were now unlocked; she was calling upon them to do her bidding. Vaguely she felt the presence of her mentor coming in behind her to escort her back to the Darumaya since filming had lasted so late but, at that moment, he wasn't her concern. No, what mattered was the delicate bottle of perfume sitting on the make-up counter beside her things, Odette was before her.

Hesitant, Ren watched Kyoko unleash her death stare at an innocent looking perfume bottle, curious as to how such a thing had offended her, amused at her facial expression. He looked at her with the patience and indulgence a parent would give their child. He loved her there was no denying that, what he wouldn't give to be able to read her as well as she read him. He watched as a nearly tangible ire seemed to float from her body and encircle her. This ominous presence was only invoked by one person. His face contorted as he realized that the fragrance must somehow be related to that man, the man he will never forgive, the man who broke the woman he now loves, the man whose name was a punishment to his ears …

"Shotaro," Kyoko said his name as if it were an obscenity. Outraged, hate spilled from Ren enshrouding him in darkness, inviting her demons to him. He fled the dressing room before the urge to shatter the perfume against the opposite wall overtook him, before she could notice he had witnessed such an event.

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"Tsuruga-san", Kyoko began, but Ren was busy trying to calm himself down before acknowledging she had spoke. His knuckles lost their color and his fingers ached as he tightly gripped the steering wheel forcing it to bind him to reality.

Kyoko began making herself as small as possible in the passenger seat. _"Was I that terrible on set today?"_ She stared at her hands folded in her lap as if nothing could possibly captivate her interest as much as they did. Her breathing became uneven and tears began to form pools at the corners of her eyes threatening to overflow.

"Tsuruga-san", she started once more, this time not waiting for his reply, "I apologize for my acting today. There was a change in my lines as Natsu for tomorrows filming and it seems I was distracted by that and couldn't focus on Mio this evening."

_"That's what she thinks is upsetting me? Why does she always think it's her fault?"_ Ren let out an exasperated sigh and began plastering his business smile on his face. He looked across the car at the small girl in the seat beside him who appeared ready to do a dogeza the instant she was out of the car until he forgave her for an indiscretion she had imagined. _"Get a grip on yourself, don't scare her."_

"Mogami-san, I'm not angry." _"Make it believable, Ren, you are an actor after all."_ Her eyes involuntarily drifted toward him, her gaze landed on the smile of the Demon Lord; her demons surged and begged for release, he was calling for them.

Her eyes wide with terror, voices in her head screamed, _"He's angry, he's angry, he's definitely angry. The Demon Lord has surfaced."_ Trembling, she quickly lowered her head to begin begging for forgiveness only to smack her forehead against the dashboard. Kyoko raised her head and started soothing the throbbing pain by rubbing her cool fingertips on the effected area.

"Pfft." She looked over to see Ren holding his side with one arm shaking, trying to contain his laughter. _Was her misery that funny?_ Incredulously she stared at him. His eyes softened as he looked at her through his lashes, his heavenly smile directed at only her, vanquishing the demons. His real smile had come to comfort her, to embrace her, to promise her he wasn't angry.

"Are you alright Mogami-san?" Disoriented from the power of his grin, Kyoko could only nod. "I'm really not upset with you so, please, don't cause any more injuries to yourself in attempt to make amends." His smile warmed and the corners of his eyes crinkled. She needed to get out of the car quickly, before his smile caused her to lose all function; it had already caused her to temporarily lose the ability to form coherent thoughts.

"…-san, Mogami-san?" _"Ahh, only she could remove my hate by bumping her head."_ Ren smiled at the object of his affection, "Mogami-san, we're at the Darumaya."

His voice had retrieved her from the stupor she was in. He watched as she walked to the door of the restaurant, convincing himself that his only intention was to make sure she entered safely. Kyoko opened the door and turned toward him smiling so radiantly his heart nearly stopped then she proceeded to enter the building.

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Kyoko closed the door behind her, she had a mission tonight. Reaching into her backpack she retrieved the object she was searching for, the object of her anger, and placed it on the ground. Odette sat in the middle of Kyoko's bedroom floor staring back at her, taunting her. Beautiful Odette cast in a crystal container, her graceful swan neck curved into her breast, her wings closed touching her body, she sat as if she had fallen asleep while floating on an enchanted pond. Kyoko had longed for this bottle of perfume since before she left Kyoto. And here Odette was, sitting prettily on the floor before her begging to be cherished, but she was tainted.

Seething with anger, Kyoko could no longer contain her demons. They burst forth, rejuvenated from their rendezvous earlier with the Demon Lord, ready to do their master's bidding, swarming around her like the serpents of Medusa's hair. Donned in a black robe and cross, she began a cleansing ritual for Odette and then proceeded to hammer tacks into her Sho voodoo doll, cursing his very being. While muttering an incantation to ward off unwelcome evils, mainly Shotaro, Kyoko couldn't help but wonder why he had chosen to send her this gift, the one thing she would have trouble destroying.

For an instant Kyoko contemplated shattering Odette and shipping the thousand tiny pieces back to Sho and then was overcome with waves of grief and sadness so strong that she began to weep. Why, why, why was the one thing she had ever wanted for herself now defiled by the one person she wanted to get revenge upon? Kyoko struggled with this question for the remainder of the night; she got little sleep.

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"Ren, why are you sulking like a child who just got his toy taken away?" Yashiro stared inquisitively at the actor he managed. His only guess was that it had something to do with Kyoko and, if that were the case, he would have to use some tactical maneuvers to extract the information from Ren.

Flashing his best gentleman's smile at Yashiro, Ren denied that he was troubled. "I'm not sulking," he began, "I simply have a mild case of indigestion from the breakfast you forced me to eat this morning which is causing me to be a bit less pleasant than usual." He knew that Yashiro knew that his problem involved Kyoko but he wasn't going to admit it out loud. It seemed that all of his problems had something to do with that girl, all of his problems and all of his happiness. Sure his life was more troublesome now than it was before she re-entered his life but he wouldn't trade her presence for the calm nothingness that was his existence before.

"It's a pity she won't be at the studio today. You always seem to be in a better mood when she's around." Yashiro glanced at Ren and saw his eyes tighten. _"Yep, it definitely has something to do with her."_

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about, Yashiro." Ren concentrated on keeping his voice even. "If Mogami-san happens to be around when I'm happy it's merely a coincidence."

_"That was easier than planned."_ Choking back laughter Yashiro replied, "Who said anything about Kyoko-chan? I only said _she_. So that's what's on your mind? What did Kyoko-chan do this time?"

Furious that he had been manipulated, Ren glared at Yashiro giving him a menacing scowl but, Yashiro was too busy smirking to be fazed or intimidated.

"Oh!" Yashiro exclaimed after he recovered from his fit of giggles. "I received a call from LME this morning. It seems a script was sent over for you. The director would like to know if you're interested by the end of the week."

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**A/N: This is my first time writing a story -- ever -- so if you enjoyed it and would like for me to continue, please let me know. Conversely, if you have suggestions as to how I might improve, I welcome all constructive criticism as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

****When Kyoko and Ren are acting as characters for their drama, I used their characters names when they spoke. Therefore, Kyoko - Mei and Ren - Takeru. If this confuses anyone while reading, please let me know and I will try to fix the problem. **

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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Enticed at the prospect of playing a faerie princess, Kyoko had immediately accepted the drama role offer Sawara had extended to her. Her imagination had run wild with enchanted forests, magical creatures, and pixie dust. She had envisioned frolicking in fields of wild flowers with her animal friends and flying through puffy white clouds with shimmering wings. She now immensely regretted that decision. After reading the script for the first episode she was presented with such a dilemma that, if it were possible to do so without ruining her fragile reputation, she would back out of the drama.

"Moooooko," Kyoko pouted, "How am I supposed to act like I hate Tsuruga-san?" She had unexpectedly encountered her best friend in LME's break room while reviewing the script for her new drama. She watched her friend pace the floor shaking her head in disbelief.

Kanae, exasperated, looked at her friend sitting at the table; they had already gone through this conversation twice since their chance meeting. "It's called acting for a reason, the feelings you're portraying don't have to be your real feelings. Just pretend you hate Tsuruga-san, or," she paused to take a breath, "during those scenes, replace Tsuruga-san's face with someone who you are angry with." She knew Kyoko could unleash such a powerful wrath that it feels like another entity in the room rather than only an emotion. She had witnessed it for herself once but, for fear of reliving that experience, she refused to mention the _face_ that Kyoko should use to replace Ren's. "And, as much as I'd love to sit here and discuss this for the third time, I have to be off. I'm required on set shortly across town."

Kyoko stared helplessly as her best friend left the room and wondered how she could ever bring herself to act like she hated her most esteemed mentor. She would rather not be a faerie princess than to disrespect Ren, though she really wanted to portray a faerie princess. "_But ..._" There were no words to express how lousy she felt about the situation, no emotions to express how much she was anguishing over it. "_Ren will probably go back to hating me after I treat him badly during filming." _Kyoko released a long sigh, laid her head on the table, and contemplated the results of her hasty actions.

"Ah, good, you're here Mogami-san." Ren's voice pierced Kyoko. She had lost herself in a quandary and did not notice him come in. "Yashiro said you would be here, odd how well he seems to know your schedule." Ren stood in the entry way behind her; his manager trailing behind in the hallway. Kyoko silently agreed that it _was_ strange how they seemed to show up when she was at LME and mentally noted that it was even weirder how without fail they find her every time she tries to avoid Ren. She, however, chose not to ponder how it always happened instead, she wrote it off as mere coincidence.

"Tsu… Tsuruga-san," Kyoko stuttered, "What can I do for you?" She chanced a glance at him to gauge his mood. He stood leaning against the frame of the doorway looking down at her, beaming. _"Beaming? What on earth? He must not have read the script yet." _She gathered all of her courage and faced him like normal with a pleasant smile across her lips in response to his.

Ren watched as she shifted nervously on the table bench, watched as she picked at her thumb fingernail, watched as she worried her lower lip and wondered what she was anxious about. He desperately wanted to know everything about her, everything that was bothering her but, instead of prying, he picked a neutral topic. "I hear that we'll be working together again Mogami-san." Ren could not help but grin affectionately at the girl in the pink jumpsuit as her eyes met his. He refused to admit it to his manager, though Yashiro had tried to force it out of him and even destroyed his new phone in the process, but he was thrilled to be working with Kyoko again.

"And," Yashiro interrupted, as he entered the room carrying a vending machine drink for Ren, "you get to play the part of a faerie princess. You must be looking forward to the new drama series." Yashiro was secretly pleased with himself. He had, after all, managed to convince Ren to stop by LME at precisely the time Kyoko would be there. He took pride in arranging their 'coincidental' rendezvous. Being their personal cheerleader was exhausting work especially considering how neither knew that they needed encouragement; it was a thankless job but he had gladly accepted the challenge months ago. _"Just call me Cupid."_

A twinkle briefly lit Kyoko's eyes but, as quickly as it came it left. "Yes, I am excited to play a faerie princess, but…" She inhaled deeply and felt her cheeks warm, a lump rose in her throat, so large she couldn't swallow; it refused to let her speak. Fighting against the obstacle in her throat, she rushed her next words, "But-I'm-afraid-that-Tsuruga-san-will-be-upset-with-me-when-I-fight-with-him-on-set." She avoided Ren's gaze, sure that the Demon Lord would be making his appearance at any moment. _"How insolent can I get? How can I possibly pretend to hate my mentor?"_

Ren, bemused, cocked his head to the side and folded his arms across his chest. "Mogami-san," he started, "I'll only be angry if you don't act to the best of your abilities." _"She always frets over the strangest things."_ He smiled and shook his head slightly wondering, yet again, how her mind worked. "If the script asks you to yell at me then, by all means do so. I know that it's simply your character fighting with my character, not you screaming at me personally." He watched as his words sunk in; Kyoko's face brightened and her eyes smiled at him. _"She's beautiful." _Ren held his arms tighter to himself as though the action would repress his feelings and reign in his thoughts. _"No, stop thinking that, she's _only_ your mentee and you are _only_ her mentor."_

"Thank you Tsuruga-san. I'll do my best and I look forward to working with you once again." Feeling better, Kyoko relaxed her shoulders and stretched her fingertips toward the ceiling. "I have a Love-Me assignment that I have to go to now. Thank you again for helping me with my acting problems." She rose from the table and left LME's break room feeling a hundred times better than she had when she entered.

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The filming for the final episode of Dark Moon went smoothly, only one NG was called but the actress more than made up for her error during the next take. The cast party held afterward was equally pleasant but Kyoko was eager to leave so that she could try once again to develop Mei, the faerie princess of Pythicos. Everything about Mei appealed to Kyoko but despite her efforts, she still could not feel the overwhelming hatred toward Ren's character, Takeru, and was therefore unable to grasp the essence of her character. She had, after all, only ever hated one person that much.

Kyoko was having an epiphany; it was outrageous, yes, but it might work. Perhaps she could channel her anger toward _he who shall not be named _for her role. Of course she could never let Ren know because surely he would unleash the wrath of the Demon Lord if he were to find out. Anxious to test her theory, Kyoko quickly said her good-byes to most of the cast and crew and headed for the exit.

"Kyoko-chan!" Yashiro, hurrying to close the last few meters of distance between them, called out after her. Kyoko paused, dropping her hand from the door knob, and turned to greet Ren's manager. "Do you have plans for this evening? Because if not I would really appreciate your help with Ren." He had not anticipated Kyoko leaving this early so he had yet to think up a plan that allowed Ren to have some alone time with her. He needed to think up a lie and he needed to do it fast. "I have a meeting at LME that starts soon and was hoping that I could leave you in charge of Ren." Yashiro dropped his head a few degrees in defeat. _"That doesn't even sound plausible, who starts a business meeting at night?" _He continued with his lie anyway._ "_He doesn't like sweets very much so he hasn't eaten anything here. Could you please make sure he eats dinner tonight?"

Torn between helping her respected mentor and fulfilling her duties as an actor Kyoko explained that she needed to work on Mei tonight and had been leaving when he caught up to her. "But, I suppose I can cook dinner for him and then leave as soon as it's ready."

"You want to practice the script?" Yashiro's eyes gleamed. It could not have worked out better if he had planned it. Well, actually, he had planned to have Kyoko spend the evening with Ren and her wanting to review the script was indeed better than just dinner. He struggled to suppress the sly smile that was trying to spread across his face. "I'm sure Ren would be willing to run lines with you if you asked him. He is, after all, the lead role in the same drama."

"I couldn't possibly impose like that." Kyoko knew Ren would want his evening to himself and, if anything, she would make him dinner and leave quickly afterward. He would not want to spend his free time helping her.

"Who are we imposing on?" Ren asked, startling both Yashiro and Kyoko who had not heard him walking up behind them. "And what are you two over here gossiping about?"

"Ah, there you are Ren." Yashiro avoided eye contact as he addressed his client knowing that if their eyes met he would be caught in the middle of his scheme. "Kyoko-chan was planning to work on developing Mei this evening and I suggested that you would be willing to assist her in this endeavor."

"It's ok Tsuruga-san. Developing the character is my responsibility. I shouldn't run to you every time I need help." Kyoko hung her head. He had just encouraged her earlier that week in the break room at LME and here she was asking for help again.

Ren raised his left eyebrow and tried to stare down his manager. _"He's definitely up to something … again." _Unable to catch Yashiro's eye to lift the truth from them and excited at the prospect of spending the evening with Kyoko, Ren quickly agreed to help before she started apologizing profusely.

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Kyoko narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she brushed her fingers across her face tucking her hair behind her right ear. She had become Mei. She rose from the arm chair seated in the center of Ren's living area. The two had rearranged his apartment immediately after finishing dinner, pushing all of the furniture against the walls leaving only a plush rug in the center of the room with a sleek chair seated in the middle. Her mind had transformed the space into a royal chamber fit for a faerie princess and the chair into a grand throne.

"Takeru, what an unexpected surprise," Mei focused her attention on the intruder. Takeru was King of the Demons, ruler of the underground, and he was her enemy.

"Princess Mei," Takeru bowed elegantly, his left arm folded across his waist, eyes cast to the floor. His gaze flashed to Mei, holding her eyes hostage in his, he stood erect, towering over the imaginary people in the room. He held one hand up acknowledging the party he had entered with. "My companions and I have travelled here today to demand you return the kingdom of Pythicos to me, its rightful ruler." Takeru glared at her menacingly as though he would attack at any moment, as though he could shoot daggers with his eyes and kill her on the spot.

Mei, taken aback momentarily, recovered herself and delivered her next line with as much malice and contempt as she could muster. "On the contrary, my dear Takeru, my father, Izumi, the Faerie King fought many battles with you over this kingdom and emerged victorious years ago." Her face smug, she stared at Takeu with equal intensity. Pythicos belonged to her father, Takeru had signed a document after the war forfeiting his claim to the throne.

"Your account is accurate, however, I have heard rumor that King Izumi has passed away." Takeru smiled gloriously, his teeth glittering in the light, his eyes piercing through Mei.

Her breath caught. _"How does he know about my father? The assassination happened last night and I was only informed this morning."_ She understood the meaning behind his words. "_He killed my father!"_ Mei lost her composure. She dashed across the room to come face to face with Takeru. She raised her right hand above her shoulder and rapidly closed the distance between it and Takeru's left cheek.

But, she was unable to hit him. Kyoko had reverted back to herself and could not bring herself to violate Ren in such a way.

"Mogami-san?" Ren questioned her actions; he had been braced for an impact that did not happen. She was standing before him, her palm centimeters from his face, staring at him.

"I can't do it Tsuruga-san." Her bottom lip quivered. "I was in character, and I was angry when I realized that Takeru had killed my father but, when I tried to slap Takeru, he turned into you and I couldn't hit you."

"What if you imagine how you felt when we first met?" Ren recalled their encounters at LME when she was trying to get scouted. _"Well, not technically our first meeting."_ "I'm sure you disliked me then."

Kyoko blushed and sheepishly looked down at her feet. "Yes, I did dislike you at first." Ren had known all along that she had not liked him but, still, her acknowledgement of his assumption pained him; his chest tightened and his heart seemed to hurt. "However," she began to qualify her previous statement, "I never hated you, nor did I want to hit you. So I can't draw upon those feelings to express Mei's thoughts."

No, the emotions she had been trying to reach were escaping her. She had repressed the memories of _him_ for so long that she could not seem to call upon them on demand. She needed to find a way to bring those feelings to her willingly she needed something to channel them through, something that reminded her of him. _But what? _Kyoko knew that she would not be able to stomach listening to his music, nor could she carry around a poster of him; she would be too tempted to shred it. She needed something unbreakable.

Kyoko slammed her fist into the palm of her other hand, excitement written on her face. Ren, puzzled, watched as her eyes seemed to stare through him focused on something otherworldly.

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**A/N: Thank you to everyone who read my first chapter and another thank you to everyone who reviewed it. I hope you enjoy this installment as well. Again, please review as all comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.**

**Also, I had planned to upload this chapter Friday but, since I will be busy over the weekend, I finished early to start on chapter three. I hope to have two chapters per week, not a chapter every other day. This is an exception. Enjoy! **


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

****Once again, when Kyoko and Ren are acting as characters for their drama, I used their characters names when they spoke. Therefore, Kyoko - Mei and Ren - Takeru. If this confuses anyone while reading, please let me know and I will try to fix the problem.**

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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Kyoko was giddy with excitement as she examined her costume. She wore a shimmery periwinkle floor length ball gown dress with a corseted bodice, a sparkling silver robe with a train that swept the floor, and a pair of delicate glittery faerie wings. Her face had been dusted with the same glitter as her wings, a pair of pointed elfish ears had been applied, and a tiara had been placed on top of her long wavy black wig.

Kyoko felt like she had stepped out of a story book, this was everything she had hoped for and more. She reached into her purse, took out her newly discovered talisman, and placed it into her robe's pocket; Odette would be safe there. Odette was going to be her saving grace, it reminded her of _him_ but Kyoko could not bring herself to shatter the perfume bottle. To Kyoko, Odette was indestructible. She was too precious to break even if it was a present given to her by the enemy.

She twirled one last time in front of the full length mirror admiring her costume, smiled at the faerie princess grinning back at her, and left her dressing room.

Ren's breath caught when he first saw her, she was beauty personified, she was perfect. Kyoko also had trouble breathing when she saw him though she could not quite figure out why; she decided it was a side effect of the corset. Ren stood before her dazzling in a black tuxedo with tails and top hat. He had amber and golden swirls painted from his temples to his cheek bones and a pair of radiant curly rust colored horns protruding from his head; everything about him screamed otherworldly.

Three scenes were to be shot today. The first they had practiced in Ren's living room not long ago, the second, Ren holding a court meeting with the demon elders, and lastly, several time consuming battle sequences between the faeries and demons illustrating how Faerie King Izumi defeated Demon King Takeru which would provide the opening of the first episode of Wars Within.

"Get into places guys," the director clapped his hands at the cast. "We're going to do a quick read through and then shoot the first take of scene three."

Ren, flanked by three co-actors, walked to the left side of the set and waited for the extras to get into their places standing in small groupings within the palace chamber. Kyoko, meanwhile, took her seat at the throne at the far right. While the cast ran their lines, the director gave instructions to the camera crew, confirming that they each knew what he wanted from them.

"Alright," the director began when he noticed that the actors had finished reading their scripts, "let's try to get it on the first take of the day." The man sat down in his chair and waited for action. He had high expectations from Tsuruga and Mogami after watching how they had interacted in Dark Moon.

"Princess Mei, I present King Takeru." A butler escorted the group of men across the threshold to greet his master. Nervous chatter filled the room discussing, undoubtedly, the enemy that had just entered their territory, all eyes flashing between Mei and Takeru.

Takeru stopped midway between the chamber entrance and the enchantress perched upon the throne. This had once all belonged to him and it pained him to see such a detestable creature defiling his belongings. He mentally noted the changes in décor and vowed to burn it all when he reclaimed his place at the throne. His composure, however, never waivered, the disgust that wanted to overtake face was covered with the mask of a gentleman.

Mei rose gracefully from her chair, standing to greet the intruder, carefully measuring her steps, unsure of his intentions. "Takeru, what an unexpected surprise," she eyed him suspiciously.

Takeru removed his top hat and bowed beautifully to the woman he loathed. "Princess Mei," he curtly addressed her. "My companions and I have travelled here today to demand you return the kingdom of Pythicos to me, its rightful ruler." Takeru motioned briefly toward his companions then returned his attention to the princess. He watched as Mei staggered under the weight of his stare and wondered how such a weakling could possibly think of ruling the throne.

"On the contrary, my dear Takeru," she spat the words at him as though she thought they were venomous and hoped they would poison him, "Izumi, the Faerie King, fought many battles with you over this kingdom and emerged victorious years ago."

Her smug smile irritated him, but he knew it would soon disappear. "Your account is accurate," he paused allowing her victory for a moment, the calm before the storm so to speak, "however, I have heard rumor that King Izumi has passed away." Takeru smiled though it did not reach his eyes, they were busy destroying her. He watched as she processed and translated his message and vaguely heard the palace inhabitants begin to mutter. _"That's right, I killed him."_

Mei felt her blood boil and strange spirits rise from within her forcing her body forward before her mind could tell her to do so. The spirits had free reign of her actions for the moment and, as long as they wiped that smug grin off of Takeru's face, she would allow them to remain in control.

Her reaction was everything Takeru had hoped for. Mei leapt from her throne and dashed toward him. His smile broadened in direct proportion to the distance she closed between them. She stopped a foot away from him and slapped him with all of her might, her face hard with hatred, eyes narrowed to slits.

"How dare you!" Mei shrieked. "How dare you show your face in front of me after what you did to my father!" Her angry spirits circled the object of her anger, cackling, imprisoning her enemy.

Still smiling, Takeru looked down at the angry little faerie. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he mocked her hoping to pry tears from her eyes.

Enraged, Mei started to slap the vile man again but was stopped when he grabbed her wrist mid air. She stared in horror as his eyes pierced hers like a snake staring at the bird he was about to devour.

Takeru tightened his grip around her wrist and jerked her closer to him. He leaned down and began to whisper into her ear, his warm breath forcing her to shiver convulsively. "With your father gone, there is no one who can stand against me without falling, it's best you surrender now."

The palace guards tried, unsuccessfully, to break up Takeru and Mei before blood was shed but were unable to penetrate some terrifying invisible spirit barrier surrounding them.

Her fear was replaced by the strength of the furious spirits. Mei yanked her wrist free from Takeru's grasp and tried to kill him with the look in her eyes. "Over my dead body," she whispered back forcefully.

Intrigued, Takeru took a step back and laughed. "Precisely what I was hoping you would say. Perhaps your fate shall be met the same way as your fathers, death at my hands," he bowed to her once more then turned and exited with his escorts leaving the faeries in a state of chaos.

As the door closed, Mei crumbled to the ground, expressionless, her attendants rushed to assist her. She heard the uproar around her but was unable to react; her world was going to be destroyed.

"CUT!" The director shouted, snapping Kyoko out of her trance. "That was perfect. Now, we'll have you do that once more so that we can shoot from a few different angles."

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Ren, disguised with a hat and fake glasses, and Yashiro sat at an unappealing red vinyl booth in a family diner waiting for their dinner to be delivered. Ren perused the script he had been handed for next weeks Wars Within filming; it was pretty basic, enhancing the level of hatred the demons and faeries felt for each other with scenes discussing battle strategies and the wrong doings each clan had committed toward the other. He was disappointed when he noticed that he would have no scenes with Kyoko this time around.

"Kyoko-chan sure did a great job this morning." Yashiro ran his thumb up and down his glass of ice water. "I was shocked when she actually slapped you." Ren unconsciously rubbed the cheek that had been hit. "I mean, most actors and actresses would just act like they had hit you. And," Yashiro carefully studied Ren's face, "I'm not sure that you would have allowed anyone else to slap you."

This got Ren's attention, his head snapped up from the script. "We both know that Mogami-san can be spirited and, if it helped with her performance, why not allow it?" Ren outwardly proclaimed that it was for the integrity of their work but internally he thought he deserved to be injured after the thoughts he had when he first saw her step out of her dressing room. He shook his head as if to cast out the images that tried to make their way back into his thoughts.

"She had seemed worried about her portrayal of Mei at the cast party not long ago. I suppose it was a good idea to have you read lines with her that night." Yashiro mentally patted himself on the back.

Ren rolled his eyes at the man sitting across from him. "Actually," he began but was interrupted by the waitress. After thanking the woman for bringing them their dinner and asking for a drink refill, Ren continued. "Actually, I ended up not being of much help to her."

"She walked onto the set today full of confidence and delivered her lines brilliantly. I was sure you had something to do with it."

"Very little," Ren recalled the events of that night. "We were running lines and she was doing well until the script called for her to hit me. She couldn't bring herself to do it." Ren noted a smile forming at the corners of Yashiro's lips. "Then, she suddenly had a 'Eureka' moment and ran out of the apartment."

"But," Yashiro felt compelled to point out to Ren, "she said she couldn't hit you." He was positive that this was a good sign, it had to be. He had been waiting for some sort of progress between the two for so long.

Ren raised his left eye brow and sighed. He forked some of his food into his mouth and stared down at his plate. "Did you not watch the filming today? She clearly _can_ hit me." Ren took another bite and stared dejectedly out the window.

Yashiro watched Ren hoping some words of comfort would come to him. He saw Ren's face twist in agony and anger. Yashiro looked out of the diner window to his left and followed Ren's gaze. He quickly sucked in his breath to stop the words from forming at his lips but not in time to suppress a high pitched squeak.

Kyoko was standing beside Shotaro, smiling.

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**A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read my story and another thank you to everyone who submitted a review. For everyone who had been waiting for Sho to make an appearance, fear not, he will show up next chapter. Also, I seem to be unable to write long chapters even though those are the type I prefer to read so, I apologize to everyone who is of the same frame of mind and hope that it doesn't detract from the story too much. **


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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Sho, unable to clear his mind, began pacing the waiting room he had been ushered into nearly twenty minutes ago. He had arrived for his first appearance on Totally Wild Rock in nearly a year way too early for his taste and was now left alone with only some snacks and his thoughts.

He had been feeling miserable for awhile. His efforts in pursuing Kyoko seemed fruitless. She did not even care about the song he had written for her birthday and he had put all of his heart and soul into it, well, at least he had tried to. That woman was driving him crazy. Sure, he had convinced himself that it was sufficient as long as he was the most hated because then he would hold the largest place in her heart but, honestly he did not want to be hated by her and he was not sure if he even held the number one evil spot on her list anymore, not after Reino attacked her.

"_Reino…"_ Sho felt his eye start to twitch.

Just thinking about that guy infuriated him and not because Vie Ghoul had tried to steal his music. No, that he could handle. He hated him because of what he had done to Kyoko. Though he tried, Sho could not rid himself of the image he had seen in Karuizawa. How Kyoko had stood in her torn stockings with her dress unzipped screaming at Reino and the way Reino had bent down to kiss her. Thank goodness he had stopped that fiasco. Her first kiss was not going to be wasted on that piece of scum, not when it belonged to him.

"_Huh? What was that?"_ He had just let himself think something outrageous. _"I want her first kiss?"_

He needed to get out of there; he needed to get some fresh air.

Sho grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the sofa and left the room. After walking down several stark white hallways he found the door he was looking for, the door with the neon exit sign above it. His manager could worry about where he was for awhile, he did not care, he would return in time for the show.

He spotted a pair of high school girls staring at him, giggling as they watched him walk down the street toward them. _"Trying, no doubt, to work up the courage to talk to me." _

Sho slowed his pace now that he was free from the confinements of the studio building. He looked up to the night sky, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, _"Yes, this is exactly what I needed."_ He relaxed his shoulders, looked one of the girls directly in the eye, and gave his best _you know you want me_ smile as he passed them.

"This is the best day of my life Yukino!" the first girl squealed to her friend.

Sho grinned wider. _"Eat your heart out girls."_

The second girl, Yukino, began blushing and nodding her head in agreement, "I can't believe we got to see Fuwa-sama too!"

_"Too?"_ Sho slowed his pace even more trying to hear the girl's conversation, _"Who would they compare to me?"_

"I got to see my number one and number two idols today within fifteen minutes of eachother. We saw Tsuruga-sama in the diner we just ate at across the street and now Fuwa Sho," the first girl gushed.

_"Tsuruga Ren,"_ waves of hate rolled off of Sho.

"They both look nice but there's something about Tsuruga-sama," Yukino gushed.

"I agree, Fuwa-sama has that dangerous vibe but Tsuruga-sama is dreamy."

_"DREAMY?!"_ Sho could not believe what he was hearing. He lost to Tsuruga again. And not only that, but he was in the same vicinity as him, as if the day could not get any worse. He had escaped the studio to get rid of his thoughts of Kyoko and now he would have to escape the city to get rid of Tsuruga.

Sho quickened his pace taking long strides toward the end of the block where he planned to turn right allowing him to put some distance between himself and his rival for both the top idol spot and for Kyoko. Kyoko…

There she was. Before he had made it to his turn, she had stepped around the corner and came into his field of vision. _"Is there nowhere safe?"_ Sho hesitated, unsure if he should turn around and run before she saw him or if it was better to have a confrontation with her in the middle of the street. Though, rumor had it that Tsuruga was in the diner just across the street. _"This could prove interesting," _Sho mused.

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Kyoko was having an unbelievably excellent day. She had gotten her scene correct on the first take this morning which had allowed her to attend school for half of a day and had received a call from her very best friend. She was even going to arrive early for her part as Bo this evening so she had the luxury of walking down the street instead of running as fast as she can to get there barely on time. Yep, her day was perfect.

One block away from the studio, she made a left turn and saw Shotaro walking toward her. Nevermind, her day was no longer perfect. She squared her shoulders and held her head high planning to walk directly past him, hopefully, without him noticing; the last thing she wanted to do was make a public scene. She could just imagine how Tsuruga-san would scold her if news of an outburst got back to him. Kyoko shivered internally and tried to push that thought out of her mind.

Her attempt to ignore the evil that was on the same street as her was futile, Sho locked eyes with her and closed the distance between them faster than she had wanted. She could turn and run but was sure that he would catch up to her since his legs were longer than hers so, instead, she plastered on a smile trying to imitate the way her mentor did when he was angry but tried not to let anyone know.

Her demons began to run wild as she got closer to the blond devil, they wanted to surround him, to strangle him, to make him beg for mercy. _"Just breathe," _she chanted, _"not here."_ Her lips felt like they wanted to fall off; smiling at him was revolting, it was more natural to grimace. She took a deep breath and stared back at him, "Shotaro," she addressed her enemy curtly. She felt her demons multiply and expand, filling the area, surrounding her and Sho, creating a separate universe for just the two of them.

Sho cringed when she called his real name, "Kyoko." He smiled at her devilishly, "Strange, running into you out here, especially when I hadn't expected to meet up with you for another twenty minutes or so."

Kyoko's brain paused, _"Wait … meet me in 20 minutes?"_ In twenty minutes she would be dressed as Bo so how would they be meeting? "NO!" Horror flitted across her face. _"Of course he wouldn't forget that interview, not when I had tried my best to expose him for who he really is." _

Sho smiled down at her triumphantly. Finally he had gotten a response out of her, a feat that he had been unable to accomplish for a couple months. But, she composed herself much too quickly for his satisfaction.

Kyoko unwrapped Revenge demon from Sho's throat and feigned friendliness once more. "I don't remember making plans with you," she beamed at him. "As a matter of fact, I don't remember having any contact with you at all. But, it was nice running into you." _"Hopefully it won't happen ever again."_ She gave another polite smile and began to step around him pleased with how well she had handled herself.

"Mogami-san."

Kyoko froze. She knew that voice as well as her own, the voice that comforted her, that scolded her, that taught her. The voice that was now sending shivers of fear down her spine. _"Don't turn around. It's a trap. Don't do it!"_

In an instant the owner of that voice was standing behind her, so close that she could feel the heat of their body, could feel their breath on the top of her head.

"Mogami-san," the voice called to her again, "is everything alright here?"

_"Calm down," _she scolded herself, _"you did nothing wrong so why are you so ashamed that he sees you with Shotaro?"_

Kyoko tilted her head up and to the right, raising her eyes to meet Ren's, "Of course, Tsuruga-san. We just happened to run into each other so we exchanged greetings and were saying our good-byes when you came over."

Ren hovered protectively beside Kyoko ready to pounce on the boy standing in front of him. He felt a strange urge to claim Kyoko, to make it known that she was his. "Kyoko-chan," he put his left arm around her waist letting his fingertips rest on the small of her back, "I'm sorry I was late, shall we get going then?" He closed the already tiny space between them, looked Sho in the eyes, and nearly growled. He was feeling alarmingly predatory.

Sho, hearing the unspoken challenge, called Ren on his lie. He knew Kyoko had no plans to go anywhere with that overconfident jerk. "Oh?" he said as nonchalantly as he could muster, "and where were the two of you headed?" He straightened his posture trying, without success, to match Ren's height.

"Actually, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko was still in shock over where his fingers were touching and the name he had called her, "I must have forgotten that I had made plans to see you."

Sho nearly died laughing. "She forgot about you man, you must not be that important to her. Anyway, she is unavoidably detained and can't go with you." He grabbed Kyoko's wrist, "We'll be going now."

Ren tightened his arm around Kyoko refusing to hand her over to _him._ He would pull out all of the stops if that's what it took. "Kyoko?" He left off all honorifics purposefully.

Kyoko wanted to shut down, to power off. She went into panic mode. Warning bells and flashing red lights were going off inside of her. _"He can't find out that I'm Bo! He'll hate me for sure." _She knew that if he ever found out that he had confided his embarrassing secrets to her that he would never trust her again. She needed an escape route …

_"So, he doesn't know that you play a giant chicken? And, it seems you don't want him to find out."_ Sho smirked at the tiny girl whose wrist was still in his hand. He squeezed tighter, wanting her attention.

Kyoko looked up at the devil who was making her wrist throb. His eyes met hers and told her that he would keep her secret if she played along. "I'm sorry Tsuruga-san," she began but did not know how to continue.

Ren dropped his arm from her waist and backed away. He knew from the start that he could not break into their bubble. He could not look at her. His childhood was being replayed before his eyes; she was picking Sho again.

Ren stood in the middle of the sidewalk and watched as the only woman he had ever loved walked away from him. He watched as she walked away with another man.

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**A/N: Thank you once again for reading and for taking the time to comment. **

**I've just realized that I suck at dialogue; I can't seem to incorporate enough of it nor can I make it sound un-cheesy. I find it easier to describe the characters, their surroundings, their thoughts, and their reactions to one another and have noticed that I tend to fill my chapters with an unbalanced amount of descriptors. All ideas to remedy this illness I have are very much welcome.**

**One reviewer asked me if I had intentionally spelled faerie instead of fairy and the answer is yes. It's just how I prefer to spell the word, if you look the two up in a dictionary there is no difference in meaning.** **It's the same with many words I use. Grey instead of gray, theatre instead of theater, litre instead of liter, et cetera. I suppose I just prefer the way it looks.**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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Kyoko had practiced her apology to Ren all night, trying to come up with anything that sounded reasonable, that sounded sincere enough for him to possibly consider forgiving her and even now, as she walked into LME the morning after, she had yet to think of what she would say to him. Yesterday her brain had stopped working rendering her unable to concoct a plan to flee from both Sho and Ren before her secret identity was exposed so she had taken the only escape route available. Of course, now that her thought processes were fully operational, she had figured out several ways she could have avoided offending her mentor and still keep her alias. Hind sight is always twenty twenty.

Either way, she was going to make amends at all costs even if he demanded that she run around the streets of Tokyo naked so that she could feel the level of embarrassment she had subjected him to. She would do it; she would do it all if it meant forgiveness.

Kyoko walked down the overly bright corridor toward the break room feeling more like a prisoner on death row than herself. It was Wednesday so she knew that Ren would be coming in a few minutes to sit down and relax while his manager ran around the building doing whatever it is that managers do. She opened the door and picked a chair against the back wall so that she could ambush him as soon as he entered.

The room seemed intimidating for the first time since she had started working at LME, too white, too sterile, too quiet, too … something. She felt out of place, like a transfer student on their first day being examined and critiqued by their peers. Only she felt like she was a naked transfer student.

_"It's alright, Kyoko,"_ she thought to herself, _"you had already prepared to run the streets of Tokyo in the buff so you should get used to this feeling."_

Kyoko crossed and uncrossed her legs, feeling utterly restless. Her skin crawled, her palms were sweaty, she had hot flashes followed by cold flashes, but mostly she felt like throwing up. Never had she experienced anything like this. If it was this bad waiting for him to show up, how was she going to feel when he walked through that door?

She thought back to the night before, in her room with her Ren doll preparing for whatever mood he presented himself in; she had imagined him angry, forgiving, and even hurt. Kyoko felt very unconfident in her conquest, even after all of her practice with mini-Ren she had not decided on the best course of action to take. And what if he refused to forgive her after the way she had treated him? _"No, that would never happen,"_ Kyoko soothed herself, _"Tsuruga-san is very forgiving when I am honest with him and apologize from my heart."_

Kyoko's leg bounced up and down so violently that she had to press her hand on her knee to calm it down. She felt like she was going to hyperventilate. The room was suddenly painfully hot making her want to leap from her chair and run as fast as she could out of the building. But, she knew that she had to stay put because Ren would be coming any second now. She looked up at the clock that was ticking loud enough to make her ears ring.

"_He should have been here by now,"_ Kyoko started chewing her bottom lip, pulling thin layers of flesh off between her teeth. Her leg began jumping once more. She observed as the clock hands went in circles; at first only the second and minute hands were moving but as she watched longer she noticed that the hour hand was also rotating around the clock face.

Ren had always come into the LME break room at this time on a Wednesday except when he was doing a location shoot but Kyoko knew that he was not scheduled to leave Tokyo any time soon.

"_Maybe he's so upset with me that he doesn't even want to see me."_

Kyoko's stomach churned. She rose from her seat, glanced at the clock above the door one more time, _"It's been forty-five minutes,"_ and left the room

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Ren looked out the driver's side window of his sports car at the LME building waiting for Yashiro to come out, hoping that his manager would return before he gave in to his feelings and went inside to meet Kyoko. Last night she had destroyed the tiny hope he had that he could become someone more important in her life than Sho. She had also humiliated him in front of his enemy.

He rested his forehead against the top of the steering wheel and stared at his knees. He had never felt so torn, so helpless in his life. He was, after all, Ren Tsuruga, he could have anything and anyone he wanted except for the one person he truly desired, she was out of reach even for him. It hurt to believe that she was meant for someone other than him, that their red threads were not connected. Sure, he had once vowed to move the heavens to be with Kyoko even if she was meant for another but that was before she had chosen someone over him, before she had abandoned him_._

"_I really am _only _her mentor,"_ Ren took a deep breath and leaned his head back against his head rest, _"it was only me who had hoped for something more."_ He needed to come to terms with his realization, he needed to put space between Kyoko and himself, but mostly he needed to convince himself that getting out of the car to see her was a bad idea. It pained him to not comfort her about the previous night. Ren wanted to run through the doors to LME, to tear through the hallways, to scoop Kyoko into his arms, and to tell her that he will forgive her. But, instead, he sat in his car feeling terrible.

Ren knew that he wasn't ready to forgive her, she had hurt his pride and broken his heart, so he continued to sit alone in his vehicle.

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It had been nearly a week and Kyoko still had not found a chance to talk to Ren about what had happened but she was sure to bump into him today at the Wars Within filming even if they did not have any scenes together. She was the first actor to arrive on the set, so that she could guarantee herself an opportunity to meet with Ren. Kyoko politely chatted with the hair and make-up artists just as she always did but was too distracted to make much sense of what was being discussed. She was determined to speak to her mentor today even if she had to camp outside his apartment door.

She would apologize and he would forgive her. Then, they could continue their mentor-mentee relationship just as they had before. Kyoko was positive.

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Ren had purposefully driven through congested traffic in attempts to get to the studio without time to spare so that he would be whisked away into the dressing room and then immediately be required in front of the camera. He wanted nothing more than to avoid Kyoko for fear that his resolve would waiver. Sure, Yashiro was chomping at the bit, fearing that he would have to apologize to the director, cast, and crew for their tardiness but they both knew the reason he wanted to delay his arrival; Yashiro had witnessed the scene at the diner last week.

But, as though fate were out to destroy him, he arrived on time and, of course, Kyoko was early and waiting for him.

He briefly closed his eyes and prepared himself mentally for their first encounter since she had betrayed him. He relaxed his muscles and squared his shoulders, dropping his eyes to meet hers, holding her gaze in his. Ren knew he had the power to sway the upcoming conversation whichever direction he desired and he had already decided the outcome before her lips began to move.

"Tsuruga-san," the girl before him spoke, "I wanted to apologize to you for forgetting about our plans to meet last week, for having to cancel them so very last minute, and also for the way Shotaro behaved."

Ren noticed the way her voice quivered as she spoke Sho's name, as if it pained her to say it. He also observed the way her body language resembled that of a child about to be scolded for getting caught doing something they knew they were not allowed to do. But, he was not in the mood to scold her. He just wanted it all to be over with. He had given up on her when he was a child and was prepared to give up on her again.

"Mogami-san, we did not actually have plans. Yashiro and I were having dinner in a restaurant when I happened to look out the window to see you and Sho together across the street," Ren recalled the events as calmly as he could. "I thought that perhaps he was harassing you so I came over with the guise of us having an arranged meeting. When it became obvious that you had business with him, I felt a little embarrassed for being caught in a lie but that was all."

"But, I didn…"

Ren held up his hand dismissively to interrupt whatever she was about to say and said a bit too harshly, "You do not have to report to me about your personal life, nor about your business life for that matter. I do not ask your permission before doing something and I do not expect you to ask for mine."

As the words passed his lips, Ren wanted to snatch them out of the air and lock them away before they reached her ears. He knew that they would hurt her, that she was too fragile to be scorned but he felt like he needed to create some distance between them. He was tired of being just her mentor, if he could not have all of her then he wanted none of her … at least that is what he kept telling himself.

"And now, if you'll excuse me," Ren began walking away, "I need to get into costume." He stepped around Kyoko as she stood there speechless, staring blankly at the space he had just inhabited.

"I'm sorry Tsuruga-san," Kyoko whispered so quietly Ren barely heard her.

"_Don't turn around, keep walking. Don't comfort her. Your mind is made up. It's over."_

Ren Tsuruga walked away from Kyoko Mogami.

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**A/N: Once again, thanks for reading this installment. I'm sorry the chapters are taking longer to come out but, now that I know exactly how I want the story to finish I'm less motivated to actually write it down which I think is odd. It's the opposite of writer's block that's keeping me from updating. Who knew that was even possible.**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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Ren had disappointed Yashiro a few weeks ago when he surrendered Kyoko to some skinny blond kid in a leather jacket outside the restaurant they were having dinner in. Sure, on screen Ren was a knight in shining armor ready to save the damsel in distress and to whisk her away so that they could live happily ever after together. But, Yashiro knew the truth. Ren, in real life, was more cowardly than normal men when it came to matters of the heart. Perhaps Ren was afraid that showing that he was in love would ruin his image, maybe he had gotten his heart broken as a kid and it never healed, or possibly he was not loved as a child so he never learned how to love another correctly.

Yashiro would probably never know. Though he considered himself Ren's closest friend, he still had not managed to get the stubborn man to open up to him. Not that he wanted to hold Ren while he was crying over some traumatic experience or eat ice cream directly from the carton while watching some sappy romance movie together like women do. Just picturing his friend spooning mint chocolate chip into his mouth with tears rolling down his cheeks caused Yashiro to break into a fit of very unmanly giggles. No, they would leave the mushy bonding stuff to the fairer sex.

Nevertheless, he did want to get closer to his client. If they were friends the way normal men were friends, he would have no trouble hitting Ren on the back of the head and scold him for the way he was treating Kyoko. She was the main, the only, candidate for Ren's romantic partner and yet he was treating her icily, as if she were carrying some infectious deadly disease.

Yashiro was both appalled and disgusted at their new relationship, or lack thereof, and had no idea what series of events caused this fiasco. But, mostly he wanted to know why Kyoko had agreed to this arrangement, whatever it might be, when normally she would be ambushing Ren from every angle trying to make amends until he gave in to her. For her to not initiate any contact with Ren must mean that he did something terrible to cause her to avoid him.

Only two possibilities came to Yashiro's mind. _"Maybe he told her he loves her and she rejected him. Or his hormones got the best of him and he tried to attack her."_ Yashiro internally squealed and then calmed himself knowing that Ren was way too boring to do something as juicy as the images his imagination was conjuring up.

Whatever their issues were, Yashiro was determined to find out. He had waited far too long for some sort of progress between them to allow their budding relationship to fizzle out now. If Ren wouldn't talk, he would go to a friendly source, one across enemy lines, he would ask Kyoko herself. She was a first hand witness after all so her account would be just as reliable as Ren's. He would discuss the matter with her the next chance he got, the sooner he knew what Ren did wrong, the sooner he could come up with a solution and then Kyoko and Ren could return to each other. Because, whether Ren admitted it or not, he needed her; she was the only person that could make him act human instead of like just another drama character.

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Yashiro deftly maneuvered through the corridors at LME searching for a young woman donning a too bright for the eyes hot pink one piece jump suit. He turned the corner and the blinding pink came into view heading toward him.

_"Long black hair," _Yashiro grumbled to himself, _"not her."_

He smiled and nodded at the pink twin as she passed him but instead of receiving a polite smile back, the girl nearly glared at him. Yashiro was momentarily flustered by her actions, he didn't know her from Eve, but recovered and focused on locating his original target. He spotted the orange haired girl in the LME break room sitting with her back to the door and head resting on her arms on the top of the table she was at.

_"She's cute, sure,"_ Yashiro thought, _"but, she's so different from the girls Ren normally dates it's hard to decide what he likes about her."_ He pushed his glasses back up his nose, they were constantly sliding down, _"Oh well. She's the first one I approve of."_

Yashiro was always amused at the girls Ren introduced as his girlfriends. Without fail, they were tall, leggy, and poised, with the fairest of complexions and long dark hair. Yet, here was the girl Yashiro knew to be the one Ren loved, though he still refused to acknowledge his own feelings, and she was nothing like any of his clients past love interests. _"Then again, that might be exactly why she appeals to him."_

"Yashiro-san?" A confused voice called to him, "Why are you giggling to yourself in the doorway?"

_"Shoot!" _He hadn't realized he was laughing out loud. "Oh, I was just thinking about something I heard on the radio today." Without allowing her curious mind to ask what exactly he had heard that would cause him to lose his composure and be caught in the lie, he countered with another question. "Mind if I join you Kyoko-chan?"

All smiles, Kyoko scooted down the table bench allowing Yashiro to sit beside her.

"It's been a while since I've last spoken with you," he began. "I've seen you at the set of your new drama, of course, but Ren and I haven't talked to you in what seems like ages."

He watched her smile fade away and sorrow take its place as the emotion displayed across her face. _"So he _did _do something! I knew it! Ren you jerk! Not to little Kyoko-chan!"_

"Yes, it does seem like a long time," Kyoko managed a weak smile. "It's good to see you today though." She shifted in her seat and stared at the empty space behind Yashiro. "Is, um, is Tsuruga-san here with you?"

_"A glimmer of hope?!"_ "He's outside in his car right now but we can go find him if you would like."

Worried that Yashiro might force her to go see Ren, Kyoko quickly declined the offer knowing that her mentor would not want to see her outside of work. She did not question Ren's actions the previous week at the studio, in fact she had been anticipating the day he decided he wanted nothing to do with her, and after all she was nothing but a bother to him. He was a saint for having put up with her for so long, for listening to her troubles, for pruning her branches, for everything. But now, that was in the past and Kyoko was determined to accept the consequences of her behavior. She had made no attempt to contact him since the day he had set new boundaries on their relationship in respect of his wishes.

"I wouldn't want to disturb him while he's busy, so…" her voice trailed off.

Kyoko slapped both cheeks and blinked back tears, fighting the urge to cry. Every time she thought about how callously Ren had treated her, her chest hurt, a lump formed in her throat, and her stomach turned into knots. Her body's reaction to thoughts of him made no sense to her. Her mother had treated her coldly when she was a child and she had never reacted like this, the tears that woman had brought were equally painful but not quite the same. And the last person who had treated her rudely, Sho, had forced feelings of hatred out of her, not tears. So why, why was she this distraught over her mentor? It made no sense.

Yashiro felt helpless as he watched Kyoko, she was on the verge of tears and he could do nothing about it. _"Ren, you beast! You monster!"_ He knew it. Ren had tried to attack her. _"Boring my foot! He only pretends to be as dull as a 75 year old woman."_

"Kyoko-chan," Yashiro felt terribly uncomfortable even breaching the subject, "did Ren, …, did Ren hurt you?" It was impossible, it was uncharacteristic, it was unfathomable, and yet all the evidence was there.

Kyoko sat straight up, if sitting more erect were possible, and looked directly into Yashiro's eyes. "Hurt me?"

"Huh? But, you were," _"What the heck is going on here?"_ "You almost started crying when I mentioned going to see Ren and you have been avoiding him recently. I thought…"

She cocked her head to one side, as if by tipping her head the words Yashiro had just spoken would sink in further and begin to make sense. It didn't help. "Tsuruga-san is not at fault at all. It was my fault, I behaved terribly and I do not deserve to be forgiven."

_"What?" _"What?" The question popped out of his mouth before he realized he had spoken. "I'm sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." _"Yes you do, tell me quickly," _Yashiro mentally urged her.

Kyoko looked at her hands sheepishly, her eyes squinted, and her mouth twisted as if she were pondering whether to spill an important secret. "Well," she looked up at him, gauging him to see if he was trustworthy enough. Apparently he passed the test because she told him who the blond haired kid was and why Ren had gotten upset when she left with him.

_"I would have been furious too," _Yashiro felt himself frowning. _"I almost forgive you Ren."_

And then she explained why she had felt compelled to leave Ren that night; something about a secret identity as Bo. Yashiro wasn't sure why it was so important that Ren not know she was Bo but he was positive the actor would forgive her if he knew that she didn't go with the blond kid as an act of betrayal. _"When would be the best time to tell him?"_

"But," Kyoko interrupted Yashiro's thoughts, "Tsuruga-san can never know that I play the character Bo. He would hate me for sure, especially after realizing that I know all of his secrets. Like the words he doesn't know or about the girl he likes. It would just be too embarrassing for him."

_"Huh?"_ Yashiro's mouth fell open and he stared at Kyoko, mouth agape. "Ren, told you about the girl he likes too?"

"Well, technically, he told Bo about her."

"And, Kyoko-chan, what do you think about it?" _"She knows he likes her?"_

"I don't see a problem with it even though he seems to."

If Yashiro had been alone he would have jumped on top of the table and started victory dancing and shrieking. As it was, there was a lady in the room so he had to keep his cool, at least until he managed to excuse himself from her presence. "Neither do I. In fact, I have encouraged him to pursue her."

"So did I. Well, so did Bo."

_"Oh. My. Gosh."_ He needed to get out of there and he had to do it fast before his inner fangirl escaped. "Kyoko-chan, I just noticed what time it was and, we both know how Ren gets when he's behind schedule, so I need to leave. But, I'm really glad I ran into you today." _"You have no idea how glad. Must …find … Ren … quickly."_

"Of course. Bye-bye Yashiro-san."

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**A/N: I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I have been distracted with The Sims 3 as of late and just celebrated my 24****th**** birthday so this installment seemed to take forever to write. I feel like I let Kyoko go OOC a little bit this time when she was talking to Yashiro and revealed that Ren had told her his secrets. Honestly, I believe Kyoko would withstand brutal torture before telling his secrets but I needed a catalyst and couldn't think of anything else. So, please, forgive me.**


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned the rights to Skip Beat! This is purely fanfiction.**

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Kanae secretly, not so secretly, loved her best friend but sometimes that girl drove her crazy. Kyoko's mood swings were so erratic that they often caught Kanae off guard leaving her feeling awkward. More often than not, that girl was happy to the point of stupidity. Kanae was learning how to cope with the flowers blooming around her friend and how to look into her twinkling eyes without feeling nauseous but this new emotion that had been dominant over the past few weeks left Kanae feeling helpless which was worse than feeling awkward.

_"This is why I didn't want friends."_

Kanae didn't like watching her friend suffer especially while not knowing how to bring relief. That's why she had left LME's break room not long ago; her helplessness was making her feel angry. And then, she had to run across that four-eyed man who was always with _him_. Ren Tsuruga now topped Kanae's hit list, even over that stupid idiot Sho Fuwa. Nobody made her best friend cry and got away with it, not even if that person happened to be Japan's number one gentleman.

_"Pfft,"_ Kanae scoffed, _"gentleman my ass."_

She would think of some way to deal with _him_ before the next time they ran across each other at LME and she would make him regret ever messing with her pink partner. She wanted him on his hands and knees, nose touching the ground, begging Kyoko for forgiveness and then she wanted her to deny him her friendship. She knew that her friend was too kind to not forgive him but, Kanae could at least make sure he begged.

Feeling powerful after her decision regarding Ren, Kanae pushed the doors of LME open a little too hard on her way out sending them flying apart causing the people who were entering to stagger backward a bit. Now that she had a plan, Kanae felt less helpless; she only needed to figure out how she was going to bring that idiot to his knees before she saw him again.

Needless to say, she was horrified when she noticed her object of hatred leaning against a silver sports car sitting in the parking lot talking on his cell phone.

"_Too soon, I wasn't ready!"_

Mustering every ounce of courage she had within her, Kanae decided to honor her decision by confronting Ren immediately. She closed her eyes and tried to channel Doc Holliday, imagining the cocky overconfident cowboy, _"I'm your huckleberry," _she said to herself and as she opened her eyes she was no longer simply Kanae Kotonami, but rather some mixture of herself and the legendary man.

She narrowed her eyes and swaggered over to the tall man hurting her friend exuding such an air of self-assurance that she was sure to intimidate anyone she came in contact with. Encouraged by that notion, Kanae marched directly toward Ren, stopping a mere couple of feet away from him, and even had the audacity to interrupt his phone conversation.

"How dare you," Kanae spat through clenched teeth. This man was not going to get away with hurting Kyoko unscathed. She didn't care that he was more famous than her and by extension more important to the company and could probably have her fired for her impudence, her best friend was worth more than her career; a thought that she had not had until she met Kyoko.

Ren, always the gentleman, excused himself from the conversation he was already having to address the fiery woman before him, "Kotonami-san, I believe, nice to see you. What can I do for you?"

"You can go apologize to Kyoko, that's what you can do for me."

Ren clenched his jaw, muscles bulging slightly from the strain, closed his eyes, and rubbed the area above the bridge of his nose. The palm of his hand ran down the length of his face then rested on the hood of his car. An aggravated sigh escaped his lips as he opened his eyes to look at the fierce girl in front of him. He was glad that Kyoko had such a good friend to support her since he no longer allowed himself to be near her.

"Are you and Yashiro working together?" Ren straightened his stance, towering over Kanae, "I have nothing to apologize to Mogami-san for."

Refusing to be intimidated, Kanae took a step closer and lowered her voice, "If you have nothing to apologize for, why, Tsuruga-san, are you hiding out in the parking lot while Kyoko is on the verge of tears inside LME?"

Ren's chest felt like collapsing, his heart hurt, he had made Kyoko cry. _"Don't cry, I'm sorry,"_ Ren internally plead with Kyoko hoping that somehow she would hear him.

For the briefest of moments, Kanae saw Ren's face shrouded in pain and wondered why he would rather hurt both Kyoko and himself than to say he's sorry. _"Is his pride really that important to him?"_

"I have nothing to apologize for," Ren, regaining composure, wanted to get rid of Kanae before she could injure him with any more words. Hearing that Kyoko was nearly crying was painful enough, he didn't need any more details. "I see my manager coming," Ren gestured to Yashiro who was exiting LME, "I'm sorry, but we must be on our way."

"I was wrong about you," Kanae frowned, "and I hate being wrong. I thought that you were in love with her after all the special treatment you had given her, that she had the same feelings for you even if she hadn't realized it yet, and that I could approve of you because you were a decent person who would treat her well. But, it turns out that you're just like _him_. You're just like that jerk that threw her away. You're essentially doing the same thing to her right now. Don't ever come near her again."

Kanae turned away from Ren, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and began to walk away.

"She threw me away," Ren calmly replied as he got into his car.

Kanae nearly forgot how to walk. _"She threw _him_ away? What does that mean?"_ She was so absorbed with these newly presented questions that she didn't notice Yashiro say hello as he passed.

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Yashiro was bursting at the seams and could barely contain himself as he slipped into the passenger seat of Ren's car. He could feel an embarrassingly goofy grin covering his face but was unable to remove it for more than half of a millisecond; the information he possessed was too good to keep to himself. A quick glance at the driver told him that Ren was not the least interested in what he found so amusing.

_"Boring as ever,"_ Yashiro thought. The man never failed to disappoint him. "I happened to run into Kyoko-chan while I was inside LME a minute ago," Yashiro volunteered hoping to tear away the indifferent atmosphere that surrounded his companion.

"Mmm," was the only response Ren gave. He refused to engage in another discussion about that girl for fear that he might just break down and run inside to see her.

Ren started the car and put it in reverse, his hand on the back of Yashiro's headrest and his head turned looking out the back window. After safely pulling out of the parking spot, his hand returned to the steering wheel; he would need it to squeeze if the incessant man sitting beside him decided to proceed with the conversation.

"Yes, and as a matter of fact the conversation took an unexpected turn." _"Come on, bite. Take the bait you boring old man."_

"Oh." Ren reached for the radio knobs. He didn't like to listen to music while he was driving, he found it too distracting, but he was willing to make an exception right now. He needed to be distracted from the ramblings of his manager.

"She told me why she left with Fuwa instead of with you. And, to be honest, I was surprised when I heard her story." Yashiro watched as Ren's hand dangled mid air hesitating between the steering wheel and the radio. "But, I'm sure you aren't interested." _"Bite!"_

Ren decided against music telling himself that the stupid blond man might be on the radio and he didn't want to listen to that garbage. "Yeah…"

_"You are so infuriating,"_ Yashiro screamed inside his head. "Actually, she didn't want to go with the singer but he was a guest that night on the show she works at."

"And she couldn't have just told me that? I would have gone with her." _"That's not enough to make you forgive her Ren. You can't, it hurts too much to be with her."_

"She didn't tell you because she didn't want to embarrass you. At least that's what I gathered." Yashiro paused hoping for some reaction. He got none. "Apparently she thought that you would be ashamed to find out that she knew too many of your secrets. It seems you poured your heart and soul out to her character on the show, Bo." _"Ha! Just try not to respond to that. I dare you."_

Ren no longer saw the cars surrounding him, the streets vanished, and even Yashiro disappeared. "Mogami-san … Bo," was all that he could say.

"REN!" a distressed voice brought the actor back to reality. He looked over to see his manager drained of color holding onto the door handle as though it were a life support.

"She's Bo? The chicken? The chicken that I told …"

Smirking, Yashiro felt a sort of superiority over his friend. "So it seems. She also told me that she encouraged you to pursue a relationship with the girl you said you were interested in. Who would have thought that you had already confessed to her?"

"No, I never told Bo the name of the girl. Thank goodness. To think that it was her the whole time."

Yashiro was defeated. He was so sure that Kyoko knew the name of the girl Ren was in love with that he immediately ran to Ren to tell him the good news. He should have ascertained that fact before he had excused himself from her company.

"But, surely this is good news anyway, Ren. If Kyoko thinks it's alright for you to be with a girl in high school then that makes it easier for you."

Ren grimaced at his manager. "You don't see it do you. She knows everything and yet she never thought the girl could be herself. That just means she has no feelings for me whatsoever." The words hurt him as they passed his lips. "It's better this way."

That was enough; Yashiro could take no more of Ren's nonsense. "Are you an idiot? She trusted that stupid singer only to be hurt by him. You are the first man she's trusted since him and what are you doing to her? Exactly the same thing. I guess I was wrong when I assumed you loved her. A decent human being wouldn't do this to someone they cared about. I'm done."

_"I'm hurting her just like Fuwa. That's what Kotonami-san said too."_ He ran his fingers through his hair, "I don't know what to do, Yashiro."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading my story long enough to reach this chapter and another thanks to everyone who had reviewed so far. For those of you who the Doc Holliday reference was lost on, it's from the movie Tombstone**** which is based on a true story. Doc Holliday is by far the most awesome character I've ever seen and, though I hate western movies, he made me fall inlove with the movie. He's seriously bad ass. Also, I'm excited that I've finally gotten to the point where Ren is helpless and confused. In my head a foolishly in love Ren is the cutest thing on the planet. I want him to show up with flowers crawling on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness. But, we all know that isn't his style so, alas, it shan't be written.**


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